Steering apparatus



(No Model.) 12 sheets-sheen 1.

-vJ. BONN'BR. STEERING APPARATUS.

No; 548,289. 4PadzntetlOotl 22,1895.

ZUz'ZnesSes/ Inve'z-Z-Zor (Nq Model.) 2 .sheets-sheen 2 J. BONNER.

STEERING APPARATUS.

Patented oct.- 22, 1895.-n

UNITED STATES lPATENT OFFICE,

JOHN BONNER, OF TIBIIRON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES vW.

MOTT, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

STEERING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,289, dated October22, 1895.

Application filed November 5 J 1894. Serial No. 527,957- (N o model-l.

To all .whom it mag/ concern- Be it known that I, JOHN BONNER, a citizenof the United States, residing at Tiburon, in the county of Marin andState of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Steering Apparatus; and I do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to improvements in vessel-steering apparatus, andmore especially to that class of steering 'apparatus in which fluidpressure actuated mechanism is employed in conjunction with ahand-wheel; and its novelty will be fully understood from the followingdescription and claim when taken in conjunction with the annexeddrawings, in which- Figure lis a diagrammatical view, illustrating myimproved apparatus, with some of the parts in section, someinperspective, and others in elevation. Fig. 2 is an elevation of thehand-wheel. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the piston cylinderand valve, and Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken in the planeindicated by the line x :c of Fig. 3.

In the said drawings similar letters designate corresponding parts inall of the several views, referring to which- A indicates a rudder,which may be of the usual construction, having a post or stack d and atiller b.

B indicates a piston-cylinder.

C indicates a piston which is arranged in the cylinder and has its rod Dextended through the heads at opposite ends of the same, and E indicatesthe casing of my improved valve. This casing E has a head d at one endprovided with a Huid-induction port e, and at its opposite end it has ahead f, provided with a stuffing-box and with a passage g for thevalve-stem h. Said casing E is furthermore provided in its inner side atits middle with an annular groove fr', which communicates with theexhaust j, and on opposite sides of said groove i it is provided withthe annular grooves k @which communicate with the ports m n, which inturn communicate with the pipes 19 q, leading to opposite ends of thepiston-cylinder. The annular grooves 1l k Z- in the casing E are covered,enlargements o "w, having suitable packingrings, and between saidenlargements has the reduced portion m, forming a space adapted toeffect communication between the bushingports r and t and between theports s and t, according to the position of the valve.V

One end of` the piston-rod D is connected with the rudder A by a cableor chain y, and the opposite end is connected with the rudder by a cableor chaine', which takes around a drum H, arranged between'thepiston-rodand the rudder, and consequently it will be seen that whenthe piston ismoved in the direction indicated by arrow (see Fig. l) the rudder willbe swung to starboard, and when the piston is moved in a directionopposite to that indicated by arrow the rudder will be caused to swingtoward the port or larboard side of the vessel. v

The movements ofthe piston are controlled by the valve G, and when saidvalve is in the position shown in Fig. 3 the fluid will pass from theinduction-port e, throughl the ports s, in the bushing F, and throughthe pipe q to the piston-cylinder'on the left-hand side of the pistonand move the said piston in the direction indicated by arrow, while thefluid in the cylinder on the right-hand side of the piston will passthrough the pipe p, the casingport m, the bushing-ports r, the spaceformed by the reduced portion of the valve, the bushing-port t, and theexhaust-port j to the open air. When the piston is moved the full extenttoward the left, the fluid will pass from the cylinder on the lefthandsidelof the piston through the pipe q, the casing-port n, thebushing-ports s, thelspace formed Iby the reduced portion of the valveand the bushingport t, and exhaust-portjto the open air, andsimultaneously with the exit of liuid from the piston-cylinder on oneside of the piston fluid will pass from the induction-port e, throughthe valve, .the bushing-ports r, the casing-port IOO ` verse thedirection of movement of the piston C the ports fr and s will besimultaneously uncovered, and consequently no fluid can escape from thecylinder on one side of the piston until fluid is admitted on theopposite side of the piston, whereby it Will be seen that at the end ofevery stroke of the piston there will be a cushion of Huid which, in theevent of the rudder-cable breaking, will prevent the piston fromknocking out the head of the cylinder.

When the valve is moved to the position shown in Fig. 1, both sets ofports r s Will be covered and uid and air will be locked in thepiston-cylinder on opposite sides of the piston, and consequently thepiston and the rudder connected therewith will be held in the positionthey occupy when the valve is moved against movement in eitherdirection.

The drum H, which is journaled in suitable bearings and has hand-wheelsI at its ends, is gradually increased in dialneter from its middle toits opposite ends, and is grooved, as shown, to seat the coils of thecable, which :is preferably connected to the drum at the middle thereof,as illustrated. Thecoils of cable are wound upon the drum from themiddle toward opposite ends thereof, and consequently when the drum isrotated the length of cable paid out at each rotation will be graduallydiminished, while the length of cable taken up at each rotation will begradually increased, which will result in the cable being kept perfectlytaut at all times, which is an important desideratum in this class ofapparatus, as is obvious. My improved drum is furthermore advantageous,for the reason that there is no liability ofthe cable slipping o theends of the drum.

The drum H and the hand-Wheels I at op posite ends of the same may beand preferably are placed in the pilot-house of the vessel, asis alsothe leverJfor manipulating the valve G. This lever J is of bell-crankform andvis connected by a link K with another bell-crank lever L, whichin turn is connected to the valve-stem h, whereby it will be seen thatwhen the lever J is moved motion will be transmitted to the valve. Alever, such as J, is preferable for moving the valve, but, as isobvious, any suitable device connected in any suitable manner with thevalve may be employed.

"When it is desirable for any reason to move the rudder by hand,independent of the fluidpressure mechanism, it is simply necessary tomove the valve to the position shown in Fig. 3 and shut o the supply oftiuid, when the vessel may be steered in the ordinary manner through themedium of the hand-Wheels I and drum H.

Steam, compressed air, Water, or other fluid under pressure may beemployed in my improved apparatus to move the piston C, but I generallyprefer to employ steam for obvious reasons.

I have in some respects specifically described the construction andrelative arrangement of the parts of my improved apparatus in order toimpart a full, clear, and exact understanding of the same; but I do notdesire to be understood as confining myself to such construction andarrangement, as such changes or modifications may be made in practice asfairly fall Within the scope of my invention.

' Having described my invention, what I claim is- The herein describedsteering apparatus, consisting essentially of the following elements incombination, viz: the rudder, the steering Wheel, the drum connectedwith the steering wheel and graduallyincreased in diameter from itsmiddle to its opposite ends so as to enable it to take up slack of acable, the cable or chain fy, connected at one end to the rudder, thecable or chain z, also connected at one end to the rudder and connectedat an intermediate point in its length to the middle of the drum andWound around the-drum,

the piston cylinder arranged between the contiguous ends of the twocables y, z, and extending in the same direction as said cables, thepiston arranged in said cylinder and having its rod extended through theopposite ends thereof and disposed in the same direction as the cablesand also having the opposite ends of said rod connected to thecontiguous ends of said cables y, z, a source of Iiuid pressure supply,a valve connected with the source of supply and piston cylinder andadapted to eiect communication between the source of supply and theopposite ends of the piston cylinder and communication between oppositeends of the piston cylinder and an exhaust and also adapted to lock uidin the piston cylinder on opposite sides of the piston, a handle J,connected with the valve and arranged adjacent to the steering wheel,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I atlix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

' JOHN BONNER.

Writnesses:

JAMES L. KING, C. H. RAEDER.

IOO

